357 Magnum 38 Special

L

Leavenworth

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Location
Lowermainland B.C.
I’m posting some questions regarding ammunition for various ammunition as I’m new to pistols and revolvers and have some time on my hands as I’m laid up so . I already have a thread going on .22 ammo .
I will start another one on a .44 Magnum
From what I understand people with .357 ‘s tend to practice with .38 special ammo .
What would you recommend for S&W ?
Thank You
Leaven worth
 
I practice with what I am going to shoot.

Your point of aim vs point of impact will be different with 357mag, 38spl

If you just want to throw lead down range then 38spl is lighter to shoot and ( I reload so not sure about this) I suspect 38 spl ammo is cheaper to buy.
 
Yes, the practice here is very common. Be aware that doing it frequently leaves a ring of fouling at the front of the cylinder that may prevent .357 cartridges from chambering easily unless it is cleaned out. I actually sold my first .357 mag because I realized I never used .357 in it. The only reason I own one now is I couldn't find a Ruger Police Service Six in .38 Special, and I was running out of time.

In terms of the ammo itself, with all these threads you have started I get the impression you think all guns are predictably ammo sensitive. They really aren't. You can expect anything from Remington, Winchester, CCI, Federal, S&B, PMC, or PPU to function well in your guns. If some of them have preference, accuracy wise, for one bullet or another, well, you probably won't know that unless you shoot it.

You are new. Buy a bunch of the cheapest ammo you can get your hands on, and get some experience.
 
BattleRife said:
Yes, the practice here is very common. Be aware that doing it frequently leaves a ring of fouling at the front of the cylinder that may prevent .357 cartridges from chambering easily unless it is cleaned out. I actually sold my first .357 mag because I realized I never used .357 in it. The only reason I own one now is I couldn't find a Ruger Police Service Six in .38 Special, and I was running out of time.

In terms of the ammo itself, with all these threads you have started I get the impression you think all guns are predictably ammo sensitive. They really aren't. You can expect anything from Remington, Winchester, CCI, Federal, S&B, PMC, or PPU to function well in your guns. If some of them have preference, accuracy wise, for one bullet or another, well, you probably won't know that unless you shoot it.

You are new. Buy a bunch of the cheapest ammo you can get your hands on, and get some experience.
Click to expand...

A lot of people that reload will use 357 mag cases and just download to something closer to 38spl velocities for this very reason, no carbon ring to deal with while still maintaining reasonably low recoil.

As for accuracy from different types of ammo, a lot of people will never notice unless the difference is a lot. Most people aren't bench-testing their handguns like they would a rifle, and often shoot at very short ranges, both of which lead to a lack of good data to determine which ammo is more/less accurate. That is not to say there isn't a difference, just that its not large enough for most people to notice.
 
Leavenworth said:
I’m posting some questions regarding ammunition for various ammunition as I’m new to pistols and revolvers and have some time on my hands as I’m laid up so . I already have a thread going on .22 ammo .
I will start another one on a .44 Magnum
From what I understand people with .357 ‘s tend to practice with .38 special ammo .
What would you recommend for S&W ?
Thank You
Leaven worth
Click to expand...

Until the 125 grain JHP ammo became "the" ammo to use for stopping disagreeable issues, the 158 grain LSWC and LSWCHP were the rounds that U.S. Police Departments used. One of the big advantages of the 158 grain lead ammo is that a .38 Special load sighted for a slight 6-O'Clock hold at 25 yards in your Heavy Duty or Model 13 using 158 grain lead .38 SWC ammo happens to coincide with the same POI when using a 158 grain LSWC fired out of a .357 Magnum loading (or .38 Heavy Duty High-Velocity) at some 450 fps faster.

In Mexico we regularly had PPC matches where a person could use .38 Special ammo in the morning match, and then in the afternoon match the same course was fired but was called the "Big Boy PPC" and I think the power-factor for a Big Boy match was 190 minimum. I often used my fixed-sight S&W Heavy Duty in both matches, and the POI at 25 yards was the same for both types of ammo.

You go fire a 60-shot course using a Heavy Duty with stock service grips and 160 grain SWC ammo doing 1,300 fps sometime. It certainly hurts my little girly hand, but any misses I had were because my hand was turning into hamburger.

So if you stick to 158 grain ammo, and sight-in at 25, you're good to go. Incidently, MP-Molds sells a Keith-type 170 grain SWC that can be hollow-pointed with 3 different styles of H.P. punch offered. The deepest punch leaves you with a 162 grain LSWCHP. The Lee 158 grain tumble-lube SWC normally weights 162 grains using our lead-mix in Mexico. I'm hoping these two bullets will end up with the same POI in either .38 Special loadings or the .38 Heavy Duty loadings (which in our case is equal to an older .357 Magnum load -- the newer loadings being rather "weinie" with reduced power. Think "Buffalo Bore" loads when thinking of our Heavy Duty loads). Thus, we'd be able to practice with the cheaper and easier to make Lee SWC and use the MP-Mold H.P. bullets for actual carry-around street use.
 
I only use 357 brass in my Gp100. i dont want too deal with any soot buildup in the cylinders if using both cartridges. Granted if your only running half a box of each at a range visit its not a deal breaker.
You'll recover your cost quickly on reloading gear if you plan to shoot a lot of 357/ 44 mag.
 
Don't over think it, particularly if you are just buying factory ammo. All factory 357 or 38 ammo will function just fine in a revolver. If you have an early K frame 19 or 66 they are not that robust similar to early 29s, so stick to a primary diet of 38 special and just make sure you are cleaning out the residue build up.
 
Leavenworth said:
I’m posting some questions regarding ammunition for various ammunition as I’m new to pistols and revolvers and have some time on my hands as I’m laid up so . I already have a thread going on .22 ammo .
I will start another one on a .44 Magnum
From what I understand people with .357 ‘s tend to practice with .38 special ammo .
What would you recommend for S&W ?
Thank You
Leaven worth
Click to expand...

I don't have a Smith in this caliber, but my GP100 gobbles up anything I put in the cylinder. The only thing I find that does occur is if I shoot a lot of .38 prior to shooting .357, the cylinder is fouled and the .357 cartridges are tight. While I've never had extraction problems, I can see where that might occur.

Two fixes to this problem:
1) shoot .the longer .357 first.
2) clean, run a brush through the cylinder after shooting .38 special.
read: it's not much of a problem.
 
We run have a revolver dedicated to 38sp for our range, but sometimes need to shoot the 38sp from one of the 686's. After ~1000 rounds of 38sp, the carbon ring does build up enough that inserting a 357 becomes difficult. Nothing that can't be cleaned out with a brass brush and carbon cleaner though.
 
I really appreciate the information fellas ! I like to do things the right way , so as a newbie with revolvers and pistols I will ask lots of questions as evident in prior threads before Trudeau invoked his B.S.
I have not been to the range with any of the revolvers or pistols since purchasing them .It’s actually my wife that owns the revolvers .
Leavenworth
 
gdawg said:
Don't over think it, particularly if you are just buying factory ammo. All factory 357 or 38 ammo will function just fine in a revolver. ... just make sure you are cleaning out the residue build up.
Click to expand...

This. Same for .44 Special cartridges in a .44 Magnum revolver. Just clean the chambers after each session - a couple of passes with a dry brass chamber brush will do nicely.
 
Last edited:
So far, I have a few thousand rounds through my GP100 4.2". I have about 6 lbs of HP 38 powder; not suitable for loading 357 magnum; so all my shooting so far has been 38 special target loads for PPC and IDPA style shooting. I have brass, I need some lighter bullets and some suitable powder to make up some HV .357s. Someday. I love the GP100 firing double action. I shoot it as well as I do my semis.
 
Meroh said:
So far, I have a few thousand rounds through my GP100 4.2". I have about 6 lbs of HP 38 powder; not suitable for loading 357 magnum; so all my shooting so far has been 38 special target loads for PPC and IDPA style shooting. I have brass, I need some lighter bullets and some suitable powder to make up some HV .357s. Someday. I love the GP100 firing double action. I shoot it as well as I do my semis.
Click to expand...

Yea, Ruger makes great revolvers.
 
Leavenworth said:
I really appreciate the information fellas ! I like to do things the right way , so as a newbie with revolvers and pistols I will ask lots of questions as evident in prior threads before Trudeau invoked his B.S.
I have not been to the range with any of the revolvers or pistols since purchasing them .It’s actually my wife that owns the revolvers .
Leavenworth
Click to expand...

Make sure that you shoot lighter loads if it's your wife who is shooting . starting out that is . and work up from there . just use 357 cases and light loads . you can shoot hard cast 357 at say 900fps . she might not like the smoke from the lube of cast bullets . if she is sensitive to a little smoke buy plated bullets . stick with 158 grain bullets.
 
The "38 ring" and other fouling - leading etc. - can be easily removed using a dry stainless steel brush, this was Murray Charlton's recommendation for PPC revolvers. Before folks freak out over using a dry brush, Murray felt that solvents were worse for the metallurgy than any wear caused by a soft stainless brush.
 
I have a coiled brass 38 brush that works very good on the cylinders, thou I usally just use a reg brush and a 38 cal mope, with a cloth patch on it, for barrel and cylinder.
I don't shoot that many at one go these days.
And they are 38 in a 357m gun, 4 in model 19

A 38 S-W round is a older cal , and almost obsolete these days , they are shorter and different then a 38 Special round. About the same as 38 colt.
Not a bad round, just hard to find, you have to get into handloading, but these days , that is the way to go.
9mm is a toss up , I could buy 9mm in baulk cheap enough it was not worth reloading .
 
I predominately shoot 38spl in my s&w m27-2. Very enjoyable to shoot. Slightly cheaper than 357 mag.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom